Nemesis Death From Beyond the Oort Cloud.ppt

* Nemesis: Death From Beyond the Oort Cloud Brian Flewell; Student, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA 98505; 360-866-0619 May 27, 2004 The Nemesis theory arose in the 1980s as one of three possible explanations to, seemingly, periodic mass extinctions in the earth’s geologic record. According to Jack Sepkoski and David Raup, there is a 26-million to 31-million year cycle of mass extinctions dating back as far as 600-million year to the Precambrian era. This research is backed by M. Davis, P. Hut, and R.A. Muller who studied the impact history of several of Earth’s craters, announcing a 28-million year periodicity. It is with this in mind, I wanted to determine if the Nemesis theory is the most plausible explanation to a periodic mass extinction on Earth. RESEARCH POINTS: Does/Can Nemesis Exist? Can the data collected by paleontologists and physicists who presented a possible explanation to Sepkoski and Raup’s periodic extinction theory be proven? By understanding the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) Diagram, can an apparent magnitude (from Earth) of Nemesis be determined? Can a proof for Nemesis be developed to show Nemesis’ gravitational pull on the Sun? THESIS: Nemesis is one of many theories to be put forward to answer the question of periodic extinctions on Earth. I hope to show that a sub-stellar object, a brown dwarf, beyond Pluto is causing an increase in the amount of comets and comet fragments from the Oort Cloud and the Kupier Belt that are sent to the inner Solar System, resulting in the increased probability of a comet impacting Earth. Observations and the H-R Diagram Nemesis’ Magnitude Nemesis’ Mass Extinctions Are Periodic Nemesis’ Orbit Observable Trials of the Nemesis Theory I would like to thank the following people for the help with my project: My roommates at Evergreen, for putting up with my late nights sitting at the computer. My classmates in Astronomy and Cosmologies and Science Seminar, our discussions have greatly expanded my knowledg